High pressure hydraulic press



1953 J. A. NOVAK 2,848,968

HIGH PRESSURE HYDRAULIC PRESS Filed March 19, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Y ax/n/ 4. flown Aug. 26, 1958 J. A. NOVAK HIGH PRESSURE HYDRAULIC PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 19, 1954 VVA IN V EN TOR. Jaw/v 4. A m Az.

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'United States Patent HIGH PRESSURE HYDRAULIC PRESS John A. Novak, Chicago, 111.

Application March 19, 1954, Serial No. 417,266 9 Claims. c1. 113-44 This invention relates to high pressure hydraulic presses of the diaphragm type currently employed for forming and contouring sheet-material, usually sheet metal. The press is of the nature of that press which is disclosed in the co-pending applications of Orville A. Wheelon, Ser. Nos. 275,893, now Patent Number 2,771,850; 334,475; and 387,741; respectively filed March 11, 1952; February 2, 1953 and October 22, 1953; and entitled, respectively, High Pressure Hydraulic Press (Case A); Power Package, Mold Therefor, and Method of Making; and High Pressure Hydraulic Press (Case B). It is to be understood that any details of construction of the present press that are not relevant to the present invention and hence not set forth herein are fully disclosed in the aforesaid three applications.

The present press is of the type that includes a substantially hollow body comprised of a shell carrying a pair of semi-cylindrical bodies partially bounding and defining a working chamber, the bodies being arranged coaxially in the shell in radial separation. One of said bodies carries the diaphragm backed up by actuating means therefor. The other body is adapted to support the work in operative adjacency to the diaphragm. Hereinafter the diaphragm is designated as the pad and the actuating means therefor as the bag.

The dimensions of presses designed according to the foregoing principle eventually reach such magnitudes that the weight and sizes of the chamber-bounding bodies necessitates, in their removal from the shell for servicing the employment of screw-jacks thereunder together with chain-hoists and slings to prevent their falling and injuring the shell and themselves when they are released from the bolts uniting them to the carrying-shell.

Among. the objectives of this invention is that of enabling removal of these chamber-defining bodies Without the use of screw-jacks, hoists, slings or the like. Broadly, this objective is attained by providing means for facilitating endwise removal of the chamber-defining body while it rests substantially frictionlessl'y on the lower portion of the inner periphery of the shell. To this end, means are provided, first, for reversing the position, with respect to the vertical, of the normally upper chamberbounding body or unit while the unit is still attached to the shell. These position-reversing means, in one embodiment, take the form of means for rotating the pressbody, as a unit, about its longitudinal axis through an arc of substantially 180 so as to position the aforesaid chamber-bounding body or unit at the lower portion of the press. A table or other guide means may be provided to extend laterally outwardly from the end-opening in the press-body, and means, such as rollers, may then be provided at each end of the chamber-bounding body,

and the table-base may, as usual in thehydro-press art, be provided with removable legs which may be removed, after the usual machine-shop jacks for lowering and raising machine tables are interposed between the tables base and the floor. The jacks may then be operated to lower the table unit sufiiciently to place the table-top 2,848,968 Patented Aug. 26, 1958 ICC below the lowermost point of the periphery of the nowrevolved upper abutment-unit, or roof-casting unit, to be withdrawn lengthwise from the shell onto said table, where it may be serviced.

Tables of the type shown in the present drawings are conventionally supplied ready for use with demountable supporting legs of a simple type. One mode, therefore, of registering the lowermost point of the periphery of the now-revolved upper abutment-unit or roof-unit into horizontal coplanarity with the top of the table, initially lying in a somewhat elevated position to enable insertion and withdrawal of the platens or trays with respect to the hollow shell of the press, would be to remove these legs, after inserting telescoping, or equivalent, standard jacks under the edges of the base of the table, and then lowering the table and base unit sufficiently to place the table top and the lowermost peripheral point of the revolved roof-unit in horizontal coplanarity, all in accordance with standard machine shop and sheet-metal fabrication practice in similar, though not identical, circumstances. Thereafter, suitable block and tackle means can be attached to the outer end of the now registering roof-unit, which can then be endwise removed thereby onto the table with marked facility. However, if the table base employed happens to be of the type in which the legs are not removable, a conventional expedient may be employed in which the table is merely shifted away from juxtaposition to the end-opening in the press, in order to clear the way for the removal of the roof-casting unit, whereafter the usual block-and-tackle set may be hitched to the end of the casting-unit for pulling it endwise out of the shell to a degree. Thereafter, a chain hoist may be hitched around the protruding casting, endwise re moval completed by block and tackle, and the removed casting may then be lowered to the floor by the chain hoist.

It is to be understood that the invention is primarily concerned with eliminating the conventional necessity for using supporting devices, such as jacks, inside a nonrotatable, conventional press, in the process of endwise removing the roof-casting from the top of the shell and that the invention primarily resides in the concept of, and means for, rotating the press to locate the upper body, or roof-unit, in a lower position for ready endwise removal from the shell.

The means for rotating the press-body as aforesaid may consist of an annular, grooved shoulder encircling the one end of the shells exterior surface. In this shoulder is circularly disposed a double-ended sprocket chain having its ends fixed to the sub-adjacent structure. Rotative power may be supplied by a hand-crank engaging the outer end of a power-receiving shaft extending longitudinally under the body. A drive sprocket engages the sprocket chain. Suitable gear-type power transmitting and augmenting means are interposed between the drive sprocket and the power-receiving shaft. The invention contemplates means of a type and configuration differing widely from those aforedescribed for accomplishing bodyrotation. For example, it envisions the employment of friction, hydrodynamic vane-type or even electromagnetic repulsion and attraction type.

For rotatably supporting the press-body, suitable supporting rollers or the like may be provided at each end thereof underneath same.

The inventive concepts comprehend other features of novelty that advance this art and these features will either be manifested hereinafter or become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

In order to further disclose the invention and at least one mode of performing and constructing same, a certain one of the presently-preferred embodiments thereof drawings and described hereinafter in conjunction therewith. It is to be noted, however, that these drawings and this description by no means disclose the sole embodiment which the inventive concepts contemplate, nor do they necessarily limit or restrict the scope of the particular embodiment specifically disclosed herein. In fact and in law, the essence and scope ofpthe invention reside within the bounds of the subjoined claims, which recite the essential means for accomplishing the objectives of the invention.

In these drawings,

Figure l is a three-quarters-front perspective view of a plant which includes the improved press;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the press-body;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of the apparatus, showing the means for rotating the press-body;

Figure 4 is an end-view of the apparatus, also showing the body-rotating means;

Figure 5 is a detail, partly in side view and partly in longitudinal section, of the power-transmission means in the body-rotating system;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic fragmentary longitudinal section of the apparatus, showing the body in its rotated position wherein endwise removal therefrom of the roof unit carrying the bag and pad is facilitated;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary three-quarters front perspective view of the roof-unit and its anti-friction means, observing the left-cnd of same after it has been repositioned and removed from the apparatus;

Figure 8 is a similar View of the right-end of the roofunit after it has been repositioned and removed.

The sheet-metal working plant illustrated in Figure 1 is also adaptable to work other workable material than sheet-metal and is susceptible of being powered by other than hydraulic liquid and the press-body is adapted to include other forming and actuating means than a pad and a separate bag. As shown, it includes a horizontally disposed, cylindrical press-body 10 which incorporates some of the improvements of the present invention. Body 10 is primarily supported on a framework, not shown, but encased in a housing having a lower portion 11 and an upper portion 12. The supporting means also include rotative members, later described, located at each end of the body for enabling rotation thereof about its longitudinal axis.

The body 10 is open at each end, as at A, for ingress and egress of means carrying the work and for servicing the inner components of the press. In order to facilitate insertion and removal of the work and servicing of the interior components of the press, a pair of supporting and guiding tables is provided. Table 13 extends outwardly from the left-hand end of the press-body and its upper surface is normally positioned in coplanarity with the upper, inner surface of the floor-casting so that the platen can readily be moved endwise into and out of the press. The tables top surface is normally held in this position by means of a leg-bearing base 14. As is usual in the manufacture of such tables for machine shop or sheet-metal working machines, the legs that support table 14 may, in a conventional manner, be detachabl'y attached to the base of the table. Table 15 is similarly arranged and supported with respect to the righthand end of the press-body by means of a base and legs 16. The legs of base 16 may be similarly detachably attached. A reservoir 17 is provided for the fluid for actuating the metal-working pad in the press body. A fluid-pressure generating motor-and-pump system 18 is arranged and connected in a substantially conventional manner to the reservoir for cycling fluid to and from the bag. Control means 19 are provided for reversing the fluids direction of flow and thus cycling the apparatus.

The'work-carrying means take the form of a pair of platens 21 and 22, Figure 2, laterally movable into and out of the lower portion of the press body on tables 13 and 15; When one platen occupies the working chamber, the other one is out on the adjacent table. Hydraulic piston and cylinder means, 23 and 24 are provided for moving the respective platens alternately into and out of the body and the aforesaid control means include means for controlling these movements. They form no essential part of the present concept and are hence not detailed further.

These platen actuating means and the hydraulic system and its controls, including the solenoid valves therein form no part of the novelty of this invention and are activated by an electrical control system, also constituting no part of this invention. The electrical control system is housed in a cabinet 25 from which extends a conduit 26 carrying the cables connected to the solenoid valves etc., of the hydraulic control system for the fluid that actuates the bag and pad, from which valves a similar conduit returns to the cabinet 25. Push-button type control means are provided on the front face of the reservoir, for convenience and include a plurality of pilot-light activating push buttons 27 for activating and de-activating the left-hand platen and a similar unit 28 for the righthand platen. A pair of electrical contact, pressure-controlling switches 23 is provided, and they are connected to the motor and pump and to the hydraulic control system aforementioned for varying the pressure of the pres sure-fluid in the bag from 0 p. s. i. up to as high as a pressure of 7500 p. s. i., or higher. The front face of the reservoir also bears a gage 31 which is a dual indicator of pressure and of vacuum respectively occurring in the bag during the cycling thereof.

The press body itself is shown in detail in Figure 2 where it is depicted as comprising a laminated exterior shell 32 which serves mainly as a binder and as a taker of hoop-tensions. The shell encloses a pair of semi-cylindric upper and lower chamber-bordering or facing-01f and delimiting bodies 33 and 34. Bodies 33 and 34 are disposed concentrically with the cross-sectional center, that is, with the longitudinal center line, of the shell 32. Thus, they are arranged therein with their respective longitudinal axes radially equidistant from the longitudinal axis of the shell and bodies 33 and 34 have a length lying in substantial coextensiveness therewith and are spaced apart radially, in mutually confronting relation and having their outer, curved faces congruently contacting the inner surface of the shell. These bodies 33 and 34, constitute compression-taking members for taking the radially acting working forces in the working chamber to the shell, wherein they are transformed into hoop-tensions.

The chamber-defining unit 33, constituting the upper half of the shell contents, includes a semi-cylindric member 35 disposed with its arcuate surface congruent with the inner suface of the shell 32 and coextensive therewith. Body 35 is removably mounted to the upper inner periphery of the shell with its curved face substantially conforming to the adjacent portion of the interior surface of the shell. Its inner, opposite face lies considerably above the inner face of the opposite semi-cylindric member.

Facewise mated with the inner face of roof-casting-35 is a roof plate 36. Plate 36 is free of the roof-casting, being engaged thereto only by the radial compression exerted thereon by the pre-stressing means later described. The means for removably mounting segment 35 to the shell is here shown as consisting of bolts.

The lower face of plate 36 is preferably dished or concave for most of its length, providing a receptacle 37 that extends substantially from end-to-end and entirely from side-to-side of the plate 36. In this receptacle the bag 38 and the pad 39 are facewise disposed in flush relationship with the inner face of plate 36. The edges of the pad are also disposed in this receptacle 37 and are anchored by clamps not shown. The bag is loosely mounted in facewise attitude coextensively with the bottom of the concavity 37 and the pad is disposed in facewise coextensiveness with the lower face of the bag, the edges of the pad being clamped to the plate, as aforesaid.

The bag 38 is no concern of the present invention, but may consist of an overshoe type expandible means, being constituted by an elastomeric sheet 41 clamped to the edges and upper surface of a rigid liner 42. Liner 42 is rabbeted or recessed at each edge of its upper face in order to receive the overbent edge of the elastomeric sheet. The liner also contains a pair of longitudinally aligned, longitudinally separated apertures 42 for receiving the ends of a pair of conduits 43 for pressure fluid. These ends are connected to the liner by the conventional means shown. Suitable apertures are provided in the roof casting and in the shell for receiving the conduits therethrough.

The ends of the pad are resiliently anchored to the press body by a clamp, not shown and constituting no part of this invention but comprising an upper floating jaw and a lower resiliently positioned jaw having a springy central tongue or plate attached to the super-adjacent surface at each of the two end-openings in the press body. The clamp jaws engage therebetween the beads at the ends of the pad, thereby anchoring same resiliently. The upper clamp jaw may be fixed in place by means of bolts passing through suitable apertures in roof-plate 36.

Suitable anti-extrusion means, not shown, are provided for inhibiting forced-flow of the bag and pad outwardly through the crevices in the press-body.

The edges of the pad are anchored in place by means of longitudinally sectionalized side-clamps, not shown,

the sections being endwise abutted. These clamps are laterally interposed between the adjacent interior surface of shell 32 and are radially interposed between an upper longitudinal bead on the pad and a longitudinal recess in the longitudinal edge of the roof plate 36.

Vacuum cups C are provided between the expansible face of the bag and the adjacent face of the pad for returning the unsupported and sagging central portion of the pad to its original position after it has been deflected downwardly by the bag action. The path of the platens is thereby freed of this obstruction enabling the platens to be readily removed from and re-inserted into, the working chamber.

The lower one 34 of the working-chamber defining members is also semi-cylindric and serves, in addition to supporting the platens, as a space-filling member and a circumferential-force taking member. It is removably mounted coaxially of the shell and coextensively with same, being attached to the shell by means of bolts, as in the aforesaid applications.

Each of the platens 21 and 22 includes a floor or bottom 51 bounded on the longer sides of its upper face by a platen rail 52. Each rail 52 is mounted for resilient lateral movement so that it can yield inwardly to accommodate the finite clearance between the sides of the platen and the laterally adjacent structure. Platen tail gates 53 are disposed transversely of each of the opposite ends of each platen. They are downwardly bevelled on their inner faces and are removably mounted to the platen bottom by the depicted mortise and tenon type of arrangement.

Each platen may be provided with means not shown for substantially frictionlessly supporting it for move ment on the inner face of the lower semi-cylindric chamber bordering member. These means may well consist of anti-friction rollers, not shown, but disposed along the longer sides of the platens at longitudinally spaced intervals, others being disposed along the shorter sides of the platens at transversely spaced intervals. All the rollers extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the platen, and all bear on and roll in contact with the sub-adjacent face of the fioor casting.

Between each of the longer sides of each platen and the adjacent portion of the interior surface of the shell extends a side rail 54, Figure 4. Each rail is substantially oblong in cross-section and the length of each 1s coextensive with that of the shell. These rails serve the purpose, among others, of supporting the assembly consisting of the roof plate, bag, pad and clamps, as 1n the aforesaid applications.

The upper surface of each rail bears, at its outer edge, a longitudinally extending groove not shown, but crosssectionally contoured to receive and seat the longitudinal bead on the longer edges of the super-adjacent pad. Suitable bolts pass thru the shell so as to removably anchor the side rails thereto.

One of the outstanding features of the present apparatus is that in order to enable replacement or repair of the bag or pad or to otherwise service the upper half of the contents of the shell, means are provided for facilitating removal as a unit of the roof casting, roof plate carrying the bag and pad and the anchoring, filleting and spacing means thereof. These means enable this removal without necessitating the use of screw jacks, slings, or hoists to support the roof-unit, detached from the shell and removable endwise when the unit is unbolted from the shell.

Broadly, this result is achieved by means enabling lengthwise removal of the unit from the shell while the unit rests and moves substantially frictionlessly on the lower portion of the interior surface of the shell. Means are provided for reversing the position of the roof-unit with respect to the vertical, or minor, axis of the press body while said unit is still fixed in place to the shell. Means are also provided at each end of the roof casting itself for rolling the now revolved roof unit lengthwise out of the shell and onto the top of the now lowered table, or onto the floor if the option of shifting the table out of the way, as aforedescribed, has been exercised and after the press-body has been rotated about its longitudinal axis thru an arc of I substantially Preferably, the floor casting, platens, and side rails are removed before the press-body is rotated.

As shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5 the body-rotating means comprise, in one embodiment, a grooved annular shoulder or the like 55 encircling the shell 32 at the left end thereof, in which shoulder is circularly mounted a double-ended sprocket chain 56. The ends 57 and 58 of this chain are fixed to the sub-adjacent portion of the press-body, and take-up means, such as a take-up bolt 59, are provided at the one end portion of the chain to enable removal of any slack that may develop in the chain.

A power-input shaft 61, having its outer end shaped to receive a manual powering hand-crank, not shown, is suitably mounted at each end in partitions 65 inwardly terminated by a drive-wheel 62 of the gear type.

A power-augmenting, and speed reducing larger gear 63, carried by a lay shaft 64 mounted in partitions 65, meshes with and is driven by gear 62. The distal end of the lay shaft is terminated by a double sprocket wheel 66 which engages the double sprocket-chain 56.

By these means, press-bodies of relatively large dimensions can easily be manually rotated thru the desired 180 of arc and then returned to their original, or operating, position.

A spring-torqued detent 67 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 68 alongside the sprocket chain, and is adapted to be manually biased out of its normal engagement with the chain prior to operation of the chain-powering means aforedescribed. In order to prevent disalignment and binding of this portion of the chain as an after effect of the lateral action of the detent member thereon, a backup plate, or guide, 69 is provided alongside the opposite side of the chain and extends in parallelism therewith so as to maintain the rectilinearity of the chain at all times.

Means rotatively supporting the press-body in a manner enabling rotation of the body about its longitudinal axis herein take the form of longitudinally elongate cylindrical rollers 71 rotatable about their longitudinal axes 72, the rollers being disposed in laterally spaced pairing under each of the opposite ends of the press-body in contact therewith. Preferably, each roller is supported on its shaft by means of needle bearings, not shown, in order to minimize friction while distributing the load longitudinally.

The friction-reducing means for facilitating endwise removal of the upper roof unit, now occupying a position, relative to the vertical, that lies 180 away from its original, or operating, position are indicated in Figures 7 and 8 as consisting of two pairs of rollers, 78 and 80, one pair being mounted at each end of the roof casting after it has been positioned as in Figure 6. These rollers are normally stowed in brackets on the side of the table-frame 16 and for mounting them on the roof casting, the latter bears, on each end-face thereof, as indicated in Figures 7 and 8, a mounting plate 76 for the rollers. The mounting of the rollers differs at the different ends of the roof casting. At the right-hand end of the roof-casting, as shown in Figure 8, there is a pair of brackets 77 mounted to the face of plate 76 in laterally spaced relationship, with their longitudinal axes extending vertically in mutual parallelism. The lower ends of the brackets are bifurcated and a roller 78 is mounted in each bifurcation to extend vertically, the lower portion of each roller projecting beyond the arcuate periphery of the roof casting.

At the left-hand end of the roof casting, as shown in Figure 7, the anti-friction means consists of a pair of brackets 79 mounted to the face of plate 76 at loci on plates 76 that lie considerably above the lower edge of the casting and above the loci of the brackets 77 at the right-hand end of the casting so as to enable the rollers 80 to engage the interior surface of the shell at the lefthand end thereof and roll thereon through the shell. Moreover, the rollers and brackets therefor are mounted in laterally spaced relationship with their longitudinal, or major axes angling upwardly towards each other so as to define therebetween an acute angle that subtends an arc equal to that arc, lying on the shells interior surface, that is included between the two contact-points of the rollers. Thus, the major, or longitudinal axes of the disk-roller and elongate bracket constituting the antifriction units and comprised of the brackets 79 and rollers 80, lie on radii of the semi-cylindric roof-casting. By these means, as the left-hand end of the roof-unit is pulled thru the shell, laterally-balanced rolling support is provided, since the rollers tangent the cylindrical shellsurface at laterally widely-spaced points; also, they bear fully with both edges in contact with the shell, rather than having only one edge of the roller taking all the load. Binding or jamming of this end of the moving roof-unit is thereby substantially obviated. Since the rollers at the right-hand end of the roof-unit engage the optionally lowered table top in the case where this mode of operation is employed rather than that of bodily shifting the table away from the end opening to allow the revolved roof-casting to be pulled endwise out of the press and lowered to rest on the floor, and since in the former case, these rollers engage and move rectilinearly thereon from the inception of the removal of the roof-unit, no likelihood of ditliculty arising in the removal of this unit exists. It will be gathered that the roller mounting brackets 79, Fig. 7 can be mounted as close to the edge of roof-unit 33, or as far therefrom, as desired and the wheels 80 may then be made as small or as large in diameter as desired, these matters being at the discretion of the designer of the particular press desired for a particular use. That is, the designer will naturally understand that if he mounts the brackets 79 considerably above the edge of 33, the wheels will have to be larger than if the brackets were not so mounted. Fig. 7 indicates that, in any event, wheels 80 do project below 33.

Before rotation of the press-body, the hood shown over the mouth of the press in Fig. l is of course removed. The face plate 10 actually consists of a ring, open in its center and not carrying the hood or preventing rotation of the body or removal of the die.

Means for radially pre-stressing the two-part roof unit against the floor casting to the maximum extent that it is expected the expanding bag will apply stress thereto during the operation of the apparatus are provided and are indicated in Figure 2. These means are identical to those disclosed in the copending application of Orville A. Wheelon, Serial No. 387,741, filed October 22, 1953, entitled High Pressure Hydraulic Press, so that it will suffice to say that they effect longitudinal and lateral stabilization of the facewise mated but separate roof casting and roof plate and of the side rails and in this specific embodiment comprise a pair of single-acting wedges 82 of trapezoidal shape in longitudinal section that is, having one inclined face, adapted to be received in seating spaces defined by an outwardly and downwardly inclined surface on the outer end portion of each side rail and the lower surface of the outer end of the roof plate, as detailed in the aforesaid patent application. The seating-space is thus also trapezoidal in longitudinal section and extends longitudinally inwardly to another seating space provided for an insert 83. The insert member is provided to cooperate with a fillet, not shown but mounted on the upper surface of each side-rail 54 in contact with the inner face of the roof plate. The insert and the fillet coact to inhibit extrusion of portions of the bag and pad outwardly thru the vertical gap created between the roof plate-end and the ends of the side rails due to the radial expansion of the bag when operated.

In this particular embodiment, the trapezoidal Wedge is urged or driven into the seating-space therefor by means including a post 84 welded to the upper surface of the outer end of the wedge, the post having an aperture therein through which extends a bolt 85 threaded by its inner end into a threaded aperture in the roof plate. Reaching or backing off of bolt 85 respectively advances the wedge and retracts it, thereby varying the radial pie-stressing of the roof plate against the roof casting.

The insert 83 here comprises a rectangular metallic block adapted to fit at its upper portion into a recess provided in the roof plate. The horizontal portion of the gap between the roof plate and the side rail lies below the upper edge of the side rail and together with the recess and the vertical edge of the rail, defines the aforesaid seating space.

The insert is detachably attached to the roof plate by a pair of diagonally arranged countersunk-head bolts, or the like, as in the aforesaid application.

When, under the expanding action of the bag resisted by the roof casting and by the pad and platen acting on the floor casting, the roof casting and roof plate are urged upwardly and are lifted from contact with the side rails, a gap would ordinarily be established between the roof plate, bag and pad and shell at the end-face of the working chamber. Herein, however, this gap is filled and closed off by virtue of the aforesaid insert and its arrangement and mounting as described, thereby to prevent forcible extrusion through a gap, of portions of the bag and pad.

Although certain structural elements employed in the apparatus specifically disclosed have been described in particularity and the relative arrangements thereof have been detailed in a certain manner, it is to be understood that these particularities are the result of clarification and in no wise limit the actual inventive concepts to same, the invention itself being limited only by the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A metal-forming apparatus having a base and a press rotatably mounted on the base; said press comprising a tubular shell, a pair of upper and lower semi-cylindrical bodies removably mounted in said shell and spaced apart in a direction extending transversely thereof to define a working chamber therebetween, said bodies being removable endwise from the shell, one of said bodies having an expandible diaphragm for cooperation with a die mounted on the other of said bodies to shape sheet metal therebetween; and means to rotate the press to locate the upper body in a lower position for ready endwise removal from said shell.

2. Metal working apparatus having a base and including a press rotatably mounted on the base; the press comprising a hollow elongate shell open in at least one end, and first and second upper and lower, semi-cylindric abutment-units for receiving press-working forces and transferring them to the shell, said units being removably mounted in said shell in concentricity to the longitudinal axis thereof for removal endwise through said open end; said abutment units being mutually spaced apart in that direction which extends transversely of the units so as to define a working chamber therebetween, the first unit having a power-expandible metal shaping diaphragm mounted thereto and constructed and arranged for cooperation with die-means mounted confrontingly thereto on the second unit so as to shape sheet metal therebetween; and power-applying means peripherally engaging said shell for rotating the press about its longitudinal axis to locate the upper body in a lower position for ready endwise removal from the shell.

3. Metal Working press-type apparatus having an elongate base; rollers disposed at each of the two opposite ends of the base for rotatably supporting a press thereon in substantially horizontal attitude; the press comprising a hollow elongate shell open in at least one end thereof and the press also including'upper and lower abutmentunits, the upper unit being removably attached to the inside surface of said shell for endwise removal therefrom through said open end; said units being mutually spaced apart in that direction which extends transversely of the units so as to define a metal-working chamber therebetween; the upper one of said units including a power-expandible diaphragm constructed and arranged for cooperation with die-means mounted confrontingly thereto on the lower one of said units to shape sheet metal therebetween; and power applying means embracing said shell and having portions engaging peripheral portions of said shell for rotating said press, while resting on said rollers, about its longitudinal axis and through an arc sufficient to re-position said upper unit relatively near said base, so as to enable ready endwise removal of the revolved upper unit from the press through said end-opening in the shell.

4. Metal working apparatus having a base and a press rotatably mounted thereon; said press comprising a hollow elongate shell open in at least one end, and first and second, upper and lower abutment-units removably mounted in said shell for receiving press working forces, said units being removable endwise through said open end; said units being spaced mutually apart in that direction which extends transversely of said units so as to define a metal working chamber therebetween, the first unit including a power-expandible diaphragm mounted thereto and constructed and arranged for cooperation with die-means mounted confrontingly thereto on the second unit so as to shape sheet metal therebetween; and means for so rotating said press body as to' re-position said upper abutment unit relatively near said base to enable ready endwise removal thereof from said shell through said opening; said means comprising a double-ended sprocket chain embracing said shell with the open ends of said chain attached to peripherally spaced points on the periphery of said shell; a source of power; and means operatively connected with said source and with said chain for exerting a rotative force on said shell, said rotative force acting in that direction which efiects re-positioning 10 of said upper abutment-unit in the aforesaid attitude rela tively near said base.

5 Metal working apparatus as set forth in claim 4 and in which said chain has a portion out of contact with said shell, said apparatus further including detent-means disposed in operative adjacency to a free run of said chain where the latter is out of contact with said shell; means normally biasing said detent means into engagement with said chain, and detent-operating means extending outwardly from said detent-means and operable to effect activation and de-activation of said detent-means with respect to said chain.

6. Metal working apparatus as set forth in claim 4 and in which said chain has a portion out of contact with said shell, said apparatus further including detent-means disposed in operative adjacency to a free run of said chain where the latter is out of contact with said shell; means normally biasing said detent means into engagement with said chain, and detent-operating means extending outwardly from said detent-means and operable to efiect activation and de-activation of said detent-means with respect to said chain; and safety means disposed laterally adjacent the one side of said free run of chain and lying opposite to said detent means, said safety means being arranged and constructed to bear against said chain so as to prevent lateral displacement of said free run by action thereon of said detent means; thereby to maintain said free run rectilinear in its path of movement whereby to prevent malfunctioning of said chain.

7. A metal-forming apparatus having a base and a press rotatably mounted on the base; said press comprising a tubular shell, a pair of upper and lower semi-cylindrical bodies removably mounted in said shell and spaced apart in a direction extending transversely thereof to define a working chamber therebetween, said bodies being removable endwise from the shell, one of said bodies having an expandible diaphragm for cooperation with a die mounted on the other of said bodies to shape sheet metal therebetween; and means to rotate the press to locate the upper body in a lower position for ready endwise removal from said shell; said upper body having anti-friction supporting means mounted on each of the two opposed end-portions thereof for facilitating the endwise removal of said upper body from the apparatus when said press has been rotated.

8. A metal-forming apparatus having a base and a press rotatably mounted on the base; said press comprising a tubular shell, a pair of upper and lower semi-cylindrical bodies removably disposed in said shell and spaced apart in a direction extending transversely thereof to define a working chamber therebetween, said bodies being removable endwise from the shell, one of said bodies having an expandible diaphragm for cooperation with a die mounted on the other of said bodies to shape sheet metal therebetween; and means to rotate the press to locate the upper body in a lower position for ready endwise removal from said shell; said upper body having anti-friction roller means mounted on each of the two end-portions thereof for supporting the upper body during endwise removal of said upper body from the rotated apparatus with said upper body lowered by the press-rotation; the anti-friction roller means mounted on that end of said upper body which, on endwise removal thereof is the last end to leave the shell, being disc-like in shape and having their major axes lying substantially on radii of the cross-sectional contour of said semicylindrical upper body so as to enable said anti-friction means to travel freely or unrestrainedly on the cylindric inner surface of said shell without binding thereon when said body is endwise removed.

9. A metal-forming apparatus having a base and a press rotatably mounted on the base; said press comprising a tubular shell, a pair of upper and lower semi-cylindrical bodies removably mounted in said shell and spaced apart in a direction extending transversely thereof to define a working chamber therebetween, said bodies being removable endwise from the shell, one of said bodies having an expandible diaphragm for cooperation with a die mounted on the other of said bodies to shape sheet metal therebetween; and means to rotate the press to locate the upper body in a lower position for ready endwise removal from said shell; said upper body having anti-friction roller means mounted on each of the two opposite endportions thereof for supporting the upper body during the endwise removal of said upper body from the rotated shell with the upper body lowered by the press-rotation; the anti-friction roller means that are mounted on that References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bryant Aug. 12, 1890 Wheelon Nov. 27, 1956 

